The Year in Sports Halloween Costumes

Any Kid Can Be a Ghost—Why Not Dress Like Your Favorite Sports Antihero? Bieber Meets the 'Buttfumble'

Get a behind-the-scenes look with WSJ's Jason Gay at the kids who dressed as this year's sports antiheroes for the Journal's annual Halloween photo shoot.

By

Geoff Foster

Updated Oct. 31, 2013 11:31 a.m. ET

Torii Hunter and the Boston Cop

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Kids Halloween F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

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Steve Horgan and Torii Hunter
AP

When Boston cop Steve Horgan saw Detroit Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter flip over the wall at Fenway Park while trying to catch a David Ortiz home run during the American League Championship Series, we knew what you were thinking: the perfect two-child Halloween costume.

Horgan's costume is easy enough, but the wall may require more exotic items like cardboard, fake legs and a homemade harness. Warning: Tigers fans on your trick-or-treat route may give your children chocolate-covered batteries.

The Buttfumble

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Kids Halloween F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

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Mark Sanchez buttfumbles.

On Thanksgiving day, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez charmed the nation—with the distinct exception of Jets nation—by colliding, head-first, into the rear end of teammate Brandon Moore, then fumbling the ball into the hands of New England Patriots safety Steve Gregory—who ran it back for a touchdown. The moment, forever to be known as "The Buttfumble," was replayed on ESPN roughly 9.5 million times in the ensuing months.

There are two ways to pull off this costume: Dress a dummy as Moore and attach it to your child's head, or else dress a dummy to look like Sanchez and attach it your child with a belt. We selected the latter option, which makes it considerably easier to eat candy.

Justin Bieber at the Heat Game

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Kids Halloween F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

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Justin Bieber at the Miami Heat game
AP

Never has the Internet been closer to breaking than when Justin Bieber sat courtside during the Eastern Conference Finals wearing leather pants, a leather shirt, numerous gold chains, dark sunglasses (for the glaring sun inside American Airlines Arena) and an ill-fitting, acid-washed Miami Heat hat that retails for $450.

That's right: Halloween gold. Note to parents: It is likely that this costume will be ripped from your child's body by a roving pack of lovestruck, candy-addled tweens.

Manti Te'o and His Girlfriend

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Kids Halloween F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

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Manti Te'o
Getty Images

During last year's college football season, we learned a lot about the girlfriend of star Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o—a tragically deceased beauty of Hawaiian descent named Lennay who lived in the greater California area. The most interesting detail of all? She wasn't an actual person, but the figment of a cruel Internet hoaxer.

Needless to say, the couple's misfortune can be your Halloween solution. The Te'o part of the costume is easy (don't forget his signature eye-black stickers). All you need for Lennay is a Hawaiian-print dress, a lei and the cardboard cutout of a computer monitor. But let's not overthink this—a person who doesn't exist can wear pretty much whatever she wants.

Rutgers Coach Mike Rice

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Kids Halloween F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

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Former Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice
Getty Images

This spring, Rutgers fired head basketball coach Mike Rice when a video surfaced showing him hurling basketballs at his players' heads during practice. Rice's noteworthy take on motivational tactics now makes for a great last-minute costume.

All you need is some Rutgers gear, a whistle, a large sack filled with youth-sized basketballs and a proclivity for throwing them at people. Nothing says "thanks for the dental floss, lady" like a basketball to the back of the head.

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